Eden Smith (1858 – 10 October 1949) was a British-born Canadian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who belonged to the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

. Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, he achieved prominence as an architect in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He was a founding member of

The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto is a private members' club in Toronto, Ontario, which brings together writers, architects, musicians, painters, graphic artists, actors and others working in or with a love of the arts and letters. It was foun ...

(in 1908) and the first president of the Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club (in 1900).

Toronto buildings

Smith was a prolific Toronto architect who designed a variety of buildings, although he is best remembered for his domestic architecture. He arrived in Toronto in 1888 with his wife, Annie, and began Eden Smith architectural practice in 1892. His early projects in Toronto included St. Cyprian's Anglican Church (1891–92; demolished in 1922) on Christie Street in

Seaton Village Seaton Village is a neighbourhood and former village located west of Downtown Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. Bloor Street borders Sea ...

, St. Thomas's Anglican Church (1892) on Huron Street, where he was a parishioner, and St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church on Portland Street, also known as the Garrison Church (1892–93; demolished in November 1963). He later designed the Peacock Building (c. 1902; demolished in 1991) at the preparatory school of

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...

, the Parish Hall (1908) of St. Simon's Anglican Church on Howard Street,

Grace Church on-the-Hill Grace Church on-the-Hill is a parish of the Anglican Church of Canada in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, Diocese of Toronto. The parish church is located at 300 Lonsdale Road, in the Forest Hill, Toronto, Forest Hill area of Toronto, Ontario. ...

(1912) and its

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

, as well as the Forest Hill residence of Frederick Wilhelm Kischel at 241 Poplar Plains Road (which later served as Thornton Hall private school), among many other commissions. He also built the 1899 St. Hilda's College building (now a seniors' residence named John Gibson House) at the original property of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

on Queen Street West (which became

Trinity Bellwoods Park Trinity Bellwoods Park is a public park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, several hundred feet before Crawford i ...

), the Caldecott House (1906) on Woodlawn Avenue West, as well as the Devonshire House Residences (1907) on Devonshire Place (at Hoskin Avenue) on the main campus of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he built three Carnegie libraries for the

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making i ...

: th
Wychwood branch
th
High Park branch
and th
Beaches branch
In 1913, he designed the Riverdale Courts, later th
Bain Co-op
an early low-income housing project near

Withrow Park Withrow Park is a park in the Riverdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Laid out and constructed in the 1910s, at the same time that the surrounding community was built, Withrow Park is among Toronto's large multi-purpose parks. The ...

in Riverdale. He is also credited with the Studio Building (1914) at 25 Severn Street, which was the non-profit home/studio of many of the

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an Intergovernmentalism, intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non- ...

artists. He designed many of the homes in the

Wychwood Park Wychwood Park is a neighbourhood enclave and private community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Bathurst Street on the north side of Davenport Road, within the larger area of Bracondale Hill. It is considered part of the over ...

neighbourhood and is thought to have built approximately 250 residences in Toronto over his career. His homes are strongly influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement, and many fall within the English Cottage style with steeply pitched roofs, tall chimneys, bands of small-paneled casement windows, and side-center internal plans. Outside of Toronto, he designed St. George's Memorial Church in

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

, completed in 1924. He retired in 1925, marking the end of the Eden Smith & Son practice that he ran with the assistance of his younger son, Ralph Eden Smith (1890–1972). He died on October 10, 1949, and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

. His elder son, Harry Smith, had also been an architect and worked with his father from 1907 until World War I. EdenSmith Lane, located in Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood, honours Eden Smith, who had been a resident of nearby Salisbury Street. His public housing co-op project, located in Cabbagetown at Spruce and Sumach Streets, was built in 1917 and is another example of his work.

Gallery

File:St Thomas Anglican Church, Toronto.JPG, St. Thomas's Anglican Church (1892) File:UCCpeacock building.jpg, The

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

Building at

(c. 1902; demolished in 1991) File:Munk Centre for International Studies.JPG, Devonshire House Residences (1907) at

File:St Simons Apostle Anglican Church in Toronto.jpg, St. Simon's Anglican Church, Parish Hall (1908) File:Grace Church on-the-Hill.JPG,

(1912) File:Riverdale Courts in Toronto.jpg, Bain Co-op (1913) File:Studio Building 1.jpg, Studio Building (1914)

References

External links

Complete list of Toronto buildings attributed to Smith

EDEN SMITH – TORONTO’S ARTS AND CRAFTS ARCHITECT

Eden Smith Survey – Inclusion of 14 Properties on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Eden Arts and Crafts movement artists 19th-century Canadian architects Artists from Toronto 1858 births 1949 deaths English emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian architects Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands